Chương 28: Temporary Alliance

Kyle silently looked at this party that had suddenly barged in, demanding to participate in his quest. He deliberated for a moment, hesitating a bit. On the one hand, the information he had about the goblin settlement seemed outdated. While he might have been 100% confident in completing the quest based on the outdated information, now he isn't so sure anymore. Therefore, cooperating with this party should have reduced the difficulty and made it easier and safer to exterminate the goblins and rescue the girls.

However, with the previous ambush from Evan and his party as a cautionary tale, he couldn't just trust a random party that appeared out of nowhere. Besides, if they fight side by side, they will inevitably see his sword. What if they also get greedy and backstab him?

'The price of these guys' equipment might be even higher than mine, though.' Kyle thought as he looked at the expensive gear these guys wore. Especially the gear of the blue-haired girl and the blond youth.

'Judging by their equipment, that girl should be a priestess from the church of the goddess of light, and that yellow-haired arrogant brat is a mage. They're probably apprentices, though, judging by their age, their mana fluctuation, and their adventurer tag.' Kyle judged internally, understanding the blond youth's source of arrogance. Mages have always been arrogant, from what he heard. It seems that they live up to their reputation. Just as Kyle was deliberating, Aaron suddenly shouted, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Wait! Did you just say that this kid is a rank 1 professional?" He hurriedly asked, his expression stiff. He looked at Kyle's young face in disbelief. This guy seems to be in his mid-teens at most, even younger than him, and they're telling him that he's a professional?

"Yes, there's no doubt about it." The thin, dark-haired young man nodded.

"This…" Aaron looked at Kyle with mixed feelings. Embarrassment, disbelief, awkwardness… So it wasn't an overconfident fool after all. Aaron was a bit conflicted, but his pride and sense of superiority as a city dweller made it difficult for him to apologize. In the end, he just turned his head to the side and stopped talking. After a moment of silence, Doyle spoke. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"So, what do you think, young man?" Kyle was a bit conflicted. The bad experiences he had since entering this village replayed in his mind. His gaze drifted to the pale face of the old village chief, whose eyes shone with a pleading light. He replayed their conversation time and time again in his mind, trying to find any incongruities, any trace suggesting this was a trap, but he couldn't find one.

He tried to think of a reason for them to target him, whether they might be members of the Bloody Hand or some other organization, but he couldn't think of a connection at all.

'Sigh… I've become a bit paranoid. These guys should have no relation to the Bloody Hand, and they don't have any reason to target me at all. Besides, taking this quest was an impromptu decision. They couldn't have prepared such an elaborate trap in less than 1 hour.' Kyle took a deep breath and looked at Doyle's brown pupils.

'Most importantly, if they didn't lie, charging alone into an unfamiliar cave would be reckless; teaming up or giving up on this quest are my best options.' His gaze swept across the room, stopping on the pleading old man for a second before taking a deep breath. He made his decision.

"Fine, I'll temporarily join your team, but I have conditions."

"First, I won't be the scout."

"Second, I'll refuse any unreasonable orders."

"Third, loot will be split according to standard party rules." He paused briefly before continuing.

"However, if we find anything valuable inside the cave, I'll have first pick." Aaron's expression hardened as he opened his mouth to object, but he was stopped by Doyle.

"Hmm, they're reasonable demands. We accept." Doyle said and extended his hand, which Kyle shook. The blue-haired girl and the thin, dark-haired young man also nodded, accepting Kyle into the team.

"Very well, welcome to the team. Let's start with the introductions, but we'll keep it brief, since we're in a hurry." Doyle said before pointing at the noisy blond youth.

"This is Aaron, an apprentice mage and a student from the Ernest Magic Academy. Don't mind his haughty expression; that's just how he is. He's much more normal with people he's familiar with." Doyle said as he patted Aaron's head, but the latter slapped his hand away in a huff.

"This is Tina, an apprentice priestess from the church of the goddess of light. She has saved our lives more than once. You won't have to worry about normal injuries with her." Doyle pointed at the blue-haired girl and said.

"May the Goddess watch over us." Tina placed a hand over her chest and softly prayed. Her eyes curiously gazed at Kyle.

"This is Luke, a rank 1 rogue and the team's scout. You don't have to worry about scouting ahead; that's Luke's job. He's a very competent guy." Doyle pointed at the dark-haired young man and said.

"Hello." The thin young man gave Kyle a small nod. Finally, Doyle pointed at himself.

"I'm Doyle, a rank 1 shield bearer and this team's captain." Pausing for a moment, he looked at Kyle and said, "Now, you should introduce yourself."

"Kyle, a rank 1 swordsman." Aaron's lips twitched.

"That's it?"

"That's enough." Doyle waved and said as he stood up, picking up his sword and shield.

"We'll continue our conversation on the way. Now let's go. We have to save those girls as soon as possible, otherwise…" He paused for a moment before turning to look at the village chief.

"Is the person who will guide us to the goblin next here yet?" The village chief anxiously pulled on his beard as he replied.

"I sent my second son a while ago; he should have been here by now—""Knock-knock—"